Improvement in hoop-locks



0 HUG-HES. HOOP-LOCK.

No 31,319. Patented Feb. 5, 1861.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES HUG-HES, OF NEWV ORLEANS, LOUISIANA.

IMPROVEMENT IN HOOP-LOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.'3l,3l9, dated February 5, 1861.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES HUGHES, of New Orleans, in the parish of Orleans and State of Louisiana, have invented a new and Improved Hoop-Look or Fastening for the Metal Hoops of Cotton and other Bales; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the annexed drawings, forming part of this specification, in.which- Figure l'is a faceview of the ends of a bale-hoop secured together according to my invention; Fig. 2. a longitudinal vcentral sec tion of the same; Figs. 32ind 4, detached perspective views of the buttons. v

. Similar letterspf reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of hoop looks or fastenings-in which buttons are used and fitted in holes- In pro-- punched in the ends of the hoops. vious fastenings of this kind the buttons require to be turned after they are adjusted in the hoops, and quite large holes are required to be made in the hoops in order to receive the buttons. The turning of the buttons is attended with considerable trouble, and the large holes in the hoops weaken the same.

The object of the within-described invention is to obviate the necessity of turning the buttons, and also to facilitate their adjustment in'the hoop.

The invention consists in having the buttonsforined with a long end projecting considerably below the connectingbar, in the manner substantially as hereinafter described, to efi'ectthe desired end.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A A represent the ends of a metal balehoop, and a the holes punched through them. B C are the buttons, which are fitted in the holes a. These buttons are, formed of two parts, I) c, of segment shape, connected by a bar, d, ieaving a space, e, between. The bar d is not at the center of the parts b c, at least not at the center of the part b. The latter projects down some distance below it, forming a long point, as shown clearly in Fig. 3. The other part, cy nay have a central position I with the bar d, as shown in Fig. 4, or have a position similar tothe part I), but relatively in-a reverse manner, as shown in Fig. 3.

The two parts I) c may be in the same plane, as shown in Fig. 3; or said parts may be twisted, as shown in Fig; 4, so'that one part will have an annular position with the other. I. prefer to have the parts twisted, forreasons hereinafter stated.

The buttons B C may be struck or swaged out of a piece of metal; or they may becastin proper form.

The ends A A of the hoop are connected [0 get-her by overlapping them,so that their holes a will register with each other, and then slip ping the long parts 1) into the holes a of the hoops.

. The buttons B C, by being thus constructed or formed, require no adjustment or turning, as those of ordinary construction. They can he slipped in the holes a of the hoops with the greatest facility, and when twisted, as previously referred to, cannot casually slip out from the holes a in the hoops.

I do not claim, broadly and irrespective of the construction herein shown, the employment or use of buttons fitting in holes in the ends 01' hoops for the purpose of securing said ends together; but

I do claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- As an improved article of manufacture, a hoop-lock button made in the peculiar manner herein shown and described.

CHARLES HUGHES.

Vitnesses;

E. K. BRYANT, JOHN ARMSTRONG. 

